Expanding the Circle
Building high-performance teams by breaking down silos
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. -Henry Ford
In 1979, Bill Walsh was hired as the head coach for a hapless San Francisco 49ers organization.
Coming off of a 2-14 season, there was no shortage of problems to address. The team’s talent density was razor-thin after mortgaging away the franchise's future on a past-his-prime OJ Simpson. Its coaching organization was gutted after churning through three head coaches in twelve months. Even its facilities were an issue - too small to house a regulation-size football field to practice on and a sparsely furnished gym with rusting weights.
As one sportswriter put it, the 49ers were the worst franchise in professional sports. Not the worst team in the NFL, but the worst team across all professional sports.
A mere 24 months later, the 49ers were Super Bowl Champions, becoming the first (and only) NFL franchise to go from the worst team in the league to the best in two seasons.
This accomplishment, as documented in The Score Takes Care of Itself, was anything but intuitive. His prime directive didn’t revolve around winning - he didn’t care how many games he won or against what timeline. Nor did it revolve around personnel changes - he didn’t even have a first-round draft pick to leverage!
Bill Walsh’s strategy revolved around a system of actions and attitudes that he called his Standard of Performance. Every member of the 49ers organization, from the receptionist at the front desk to star-receiver Jerry Rice, was expected to adhere to it. This enabled the 49ers to strive for perfection at every level as a unit.
Players had a connection to—and were an extension of—the coaching staff, trainers, team doctor, nutritionists, maintenance crew, and, yes, the people who answered the phones. Everybody was connected, each of us an extension of the others, each of us with ownership in our organization.
The team believed that its success was predicated on the latticework of performance every individual brought. The game-winning touchdown wasn’t solely the product of the receiver's talent, but the result of everyone excelling in their role: the left tackle holding off the blitz, the slot receiver drawing coverage, and the quarterback standing strong in the pocket as he went through his progressions.
This was not an easy transition. Like any organization, an NFL franchise naturally spotlights individuals, just as a company’s success is often attributed to a few select stand-outs. When an organization achieves the equivalent of a game-winning touchdown, we look to the charismatic CEO or the star salesperson as the driver.
The lesson from the 49ers historic performance is that the organization's collective performance is more than the sum of its parts. The charismatic CEO will have a hard time luring industry-leading executives on-board if the recruiting cycle is unnecessarily drawn out and underwhelming. Likewise, the star salesperson won’t stick around if the payroll administrator repeatedly pays out the wrong commission.
An organization can win with individual heroics, but sustained success occurs when we expand the circle beyond the impact players. When each team member knows how they can positively impact the organization day-to-day, you can unlock a level of performance most organizations can only dream of.
Like any good advice, this is easier said than done, but putting time early on will pay dividends. For leaders, it requires a thoughtful look at each team and how they fit together. Specifically, you have to:
Clearly and consistently communicate how each role contributes to the organization’s success. A good rule of thumb is people will hear it around the time that you’re sick of saying it.
Define perfection for each role. It may be easier to define “excellence,” but that’s not enough. The standard should be set high enough where it’s never consistently reached but meaningful enough that it won’t stop folks from trying.
Democratize the standards across the organization. Everyone should know what’s expected of them and what they should expect of others. Being held accountable by your boss is one thing, but being held accountable by the peers and subordinates who see you every day is where real behavior change happens.
Coach and recognize individual and team performance against the standard. Having the roles clearly defined and consistently communicated will make feedback easier, but just as critical is to reward when (near) perfection is achieved.
Bring it all together. To truly expand the circle, we have to stop focusing on individuals when looking at wins and losses. Every effort is a team effort. That doesn’t mean personal accountability doesn’t exist (see #4), but shrinking the circle to a select few will negate the necessity of the standards you set out.